Last we knew: The Boulder City Council on July 19 approved the first reading of ballot language that would allow the city to form a municipal electric utility, issue bonds to pay for it and increase the Climate Action Plan tax to pay for the initial process.

Latest: The council on Tuesday night was poised to approve the second reading of ballot measures that would allow the city to municipalize the utility, issue bonds and collect money to fund the initial process.

What's next: The City Council will vote on final ballot language Aug. 16.

Boulder's "energy future" is now one vote away from reaching the Nov. 1 ballot.

Late Tuesday night, the City Council approved language for ballot questions that could fundamentally change where and how the city gets its electricity for decades to come.

The energy ballot questions now move to a final procedural vote Aug. 16.

If approved by Boulder voters, the combined ballot measures would allow the city to end its longtime relationship with Xcel Energy in favor of forming a municipal utility. That, according to proponents, could give the city more control over where its electricity comes from -- including the addition of more renewable sources of power over time.

The council considered two separate questions.

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One would ask for general permission to start a new light and power utility. That would change the city's charter language to set up a governance structure including a new electric utilities department and an advisory board. The ultimate authority over the utility would rest with the City Council.

The measure also would give the city bonding authority to cover the costs of purchasing the local distribution system from Xcel Energy and starting up the new utility. The council approved that question in a unanimous vote at 11:40 p.m.

The council also wrestled with whether to ask voters to double the existing Climate Action Plan tax or extend a utility occupation tax that Xcel is now collecting from Boulder customers. That money would be used to pay for the expected $1 million a year that the city would need to cover legal and engineering fees associated with making the move to a municipal utility. The council voted unanimously at 12:05 a.m. to support an extension of the occupation tax.

The city's current utility occupation tax is a tax on Xcel's revenues collected from the sale of natural gas and the sale of electricity, which is then passed through to the customer. Business customers pay approximately 80 percent of the occupation tax.

The measure would collect up to $1.9 million dollars per year beginning Jan. 1, 2012. It would expire at the end of 2017, or sooner if the city decides not to create a municipal utility or when the city begins delivering electricity.

The council spent most of its time combing through the proposed ballot and charter language page by page, wrangling over the details and how voters would interpret them at the polls.

The council agreed that a city utility should provide the Boulder Valley School District with payments in lieu of taxes for property taxes that would be lost if the city acquired Xcel's infrastructure in Boulder. The city would have the option of also paying itself and Boulder County for lost tax revenue.

And, in a split vote, the group also agreed that the managing utility board should be made up of nine people who are all appointed by the council.

The leaders also heard from Tom Miller, president of the National Research Center in Boulder, which recently completed a community phone survey about energy issues.

Of the 400 people who responded to the survey, 71 percent indicated that they support municipalization.

But Miller noted that when people were asked about continuing to work with Xcel under a bulk wind-purchase agreement that the utility company floated and the city rejected, support for continuing to work with Xcel went up "significantly" to 75 percent.

Dozens of people showed up at Tuesday night's meeting to weigh in on the options.

Ken Regelson, a member of the group Citizens for Boulder's Clean Energy Future, praised the council for moving toward municipalization.

"The opportunities before us are incredible," he said. "The people of the future demand that we do this. This is the future that we need."

Boulder businessman Jim Hartman agreed, telling the officials that they are "doing the right thing.

"Our children are watching -- the world is watching," he said.

Councilman Ken Wilson said he doesn't like the status quo with Xcel, but he also doesn't believe forming a municipal utility is in the city's best interest.

"I think we will spend five years in litigation," he said, "and another five as a broke muni."

The most colorful exchange of the evening was between David Miller, chairman of the Boulder Energy Smart Coalition, and Councilman Macon Cowles.

The coalition is made up of residents who are concerned about the risks of municipalization.

Cowles grilled Miller for several minutes about how the group is funding a series of newspaper ads and whether the group is affiliated with Xcel.

Cowles asked Miller where the group's money is coming from and said he expects the same transparency from private groups as the city has provided in the energy debate.

Miller responded by saying that the group is still organizing and that it will disclose its donors once the issue is on the ballot and campaign finance laws kick in. He called the coalition "a legitimate organization" that is not affiliated with Xcel or being financed by the utility giant.

When Cowles repeatedly asked how much money Miller has personally contributed to the cause, Miller declined to answer, and several other council members told Cowles to stop.

Tom Asprey, left, and Alison Burchell wear yellow flowers to express their support for the municipalization of Boulder's energy during discussions at the Boulder City Council meeting Tuesday night.
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Paul Aiken
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